The confrontation with Iran is rather expanding
The US-Israeli war operation against Iran is now in its eleventh day. Several thousand targets were hit, including oil production facilities, missile bases, communications equipment, command and control centers of the army, warships and submarines. However, despite the weakening of Iran's military potential, it has not been completely destroyed.
It is not clear how long the conflict may last. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the operation against Iran is almost over and that it is well ahead of the original plan estimated at four to five weeks. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the operation has not yet begun properly - more powerful ammunition is to be used in the bombing. When asked about the contradiction between these claims, Trump replied that both can be said...
A secret report by the US National Intelligence Council issued before the attack on Iran was indicated, the conclusions of which were quoted by The Washington Post. According to them, the regime of the ayatollahs in Tehran is likely to survive even in the event of a long-term military campaign against it.
The regime does not leave its militancy. Mojtab Khamenei, the son of the slain Ayatollah Khamenei, was elected as its head, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said it is capable of waging war with the US for at least six months.
Iranian missile and drone strikes on military and civilian facilities in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, including American bases, continue. Iran has managed to cause regional chaos, which also has a strong impact on the global economy, mainly due to the blocking of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's daily oil and liquefied natural gas production is headed to the world market. The price of oil fluctuates wildly around the level of $100 per barrel, with Trump trying to calm world markets with rhetoric about the "near end of the war".
Yet there is a lot of nervousness in the fossil fuel-rich Gulf states. Until now, they have presented themselves to the world as prosperous islands of stability in the unstable Middle East. But the conflict significantly damages this image.
Influential billionaire and philanthropist from the United Arab Emirates, Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, who heads the Dubai National Insurance Company, accused Trump on the X network of a "ill-considered war" that has turned the region into a battlefield. He also reminded him that the rich Gulf countries contributed billions of dollars to his Peace Council and asked whether it was now used to finance the war and whether his decision to go to war was not the result of pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This may signal that the war threatens not only plans for a sustainable peace in Gaza, its reconstruction, but also the further normalization of relations between Arab countries and Israel.
The further development of the conflict is unpredictable. Rather, the confrontation with Iran is expanding and its borders are becoming increasingly difficult to define.
Miloš Balabán, Právo Daily